An urgent email from Indivisible re: AHCA

Just as a preface: we don’t normally send “Help! The house is on fire!” emails like this because they can seem fake and alarmist. But we feel the tone of this email accurately represents how dire the TrumpCare situation is right now. Forgive the urgency—we promise to do this rarely.

What’s in this “new” TrumpCare bill.

After weeks of total secrecy, this morning Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released the Senate TrumpCare bill. And what a cruel, ugly bill it is. It destroys Medicaid, it increases health costs for the middle-class families, it cuts coverage for pre-existing conditions, it eliminates funding for Planned Parenthood…and it does this all in order to green-light a massive tax cut for millionaires and billionaires. Oh, and it will likely get worse once it gets to the Senate floor.

But this isn’t over yet. Senate Republicans don’t have the votes…not yet. We have time to fight back, and it doesn’t matter if you have a Republican or Democratic Senator—you are needed in this fight. Here’s how to fight back.

People don’t realize how dire this is. We’re trying to get the word out to amp up public pressure on Congress NOW by launching a digital campaign to turn out more people against TrumpCare. Join us.

How the TrumpCare fight will play out

Senate Republicans have promised a vote by the end of next week. But there are still several steps between now and passage of TrumpCare. Here’s how the former congressional staff at Indivisible Team think the fight will unfurl:

Tomorrow, we’ll get a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score, which will quantify exactly how many millions of Americans will be screwed by this bill and in what ways.

On Monday or Tuesday, Republicans will officially announce the vote is happening by the end of the week and start debate on “the bill,” which is just a draft bill intended to make it look like they’re being transparent but in reality is a trick to hide just how awful their finished product will be.

Over the next couple days, Senators will submit amendments, most of which will fail and none of which would make this bill redeemable.

On Thursday, the Senate will plan to vote on the legislation, but first they will vote on all submitted amendments (known as “vote-a-rama”).

At the last possible minute, Senate Republicans will replace the entire bill they just got finished “debating” with an alternative TrumpCare bill secretly crafted behind closed doors.

By the end of Thursday, there will be a final vote in the Senate.

As soon as that same Thursday, the House may then pass the legislation and send it to Trump to sign. This could take longer, but this is the worst case scenario and quite possible.

Next weekend, one week of congressional recess begins. They’ll either have the bill done by then, or they’ll have to wait another week.

Throughout this process there will be precisely zero public hearings in the Senate. Make no mistake, this is a historically partisan, secretive, and undemocratic process for one of the most consequential pieces of legislation of our generation. This is atrocious.

So let’s fight it. All you need to pressure your Republican Senators, including DAILY scripts and new materials, is on our TrumpCareTen.org website. Need more background materials? We’ve got ‘em for you here. It’s critical that you’re showing up and that when you’re not showing up, you’re calling your Senators every single day.

TrumpCare Facebook Live tonight!

Don’t like this TrumpCare bill? Help us amend it ASAP

Got a Democratic Senator? You’ve still got work to do. As mentioned above, one of the final stages of the TrumpCare bill is a little-known process known as “vote-a-rama” where ANY Senator can submit as many amendments as he or she wants. And here’s the thing: EVERY amendment takes time to be introduced and voted on. We’re collecting THOUSANDS of amendments and submitting them directly to Senate staff.

This is about applying your constituent power directly to the process. This tactic can delay the bill and make it more politically painful for Republicans to move forward. It’s not a silver bullet- McConnell and Senate Republicans can still blow up Senate rules and cut off the amendment process. But to do that they’ll have to go on the record literally silencing the victims of TrumpCare in their own states, which they really don’t want to visibly do.

We’re amping up the pressure, giving us money will help

Here’s the hard truth: McConnell’s strategy of secrecy is working. National and local press aren’t covering the TrumpCare fight, so fewer people know about it. That means there’s less public pressure on Congress, and it’s easier for Senate Republicans to move forward. If we drag this TrumpCare bill out into the light, it will rot. That’s our job right now.

We want EVERYBODY rising up to kill this TrumpCare bill. To do that, we need to invest more in our anti-TrumpCare outreach work NOW. If you want more people in this fight, please donate. $15, $28, $50—any amount will help us reach new folks. We’ll be expanding our reach DIRECTLY in response to your donations.

We are under no illusions that victory is assured here, but victory is possible. Every member of Congress voting on this bill will eventually have to get your vote to be reelected. That’s the source of your constituent power. That’s what makes them responsive to pressure. Remember in March when Paul Ryan embarrassingly called off his first TrumpCare vote? That happened because of public pressure. That happened because of you.

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12 Responses to “An urgent email from Indivisible re: AHCA”

Thanks for sharing. I’d already started a conversation on Facebook. Now I’ve submitted an amendment, though it wasn’t clear to me what they wanted. I’ll copy what I posted here, in case commenters can explain what I did wrong to your other readers:

“My amendment: Make preventative care free. It’s been shown that more people will get preventative care when it’s free/pre-paid. This means that problems are found early when they are cheaper to fix. This will minimize costs (financial, health, work-related) for everyone.

“I’d like a lot more amendments, too, like increasing funding of Planned Parenthood (you get so much for your money!), requiring coverage for all health issues, disallowing funding caps for treatments with a real chance of helping.

“My story: My employer currently provides good health insurance, so the worst that will happen to me personally is that fewer things will be covered. I probably don’t care about that; I can probably afford it. But as we learned from the mortgage mess, just because I didn’t get a stupid mortgage doesn’t mean nothing bad happens to me. Having people around me suffering from health issues and/or health-related bankruptcies could have wide-ranging affects for everyone. Even if not, it makes me sad and angry and ashamed of this aspect of my country.”

SEC. 2. (a) IN GENERAL — Section ____ of H.R. 1628 is amended by adding at the end the following new subsections:

(c) PREMIUM ISSUE — Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, Deborah Miller of Texas shall not experience a rise in health insurance premiums or a reduction in premium tax credit or assistance with paying cost-sharing.

(d) MEDICAID ENHANCED MATCH — Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, Deborah Miller ‘s state of residence (Texas) shall not lose its enhanced match pursuant to Section 1905(y) to pay for Deborah Miller’s Medicaid coverage pursuant to Section 1902(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII) of the Social Security Act.

(e) PRESERVATION OF CONSUMER PROTECTIONS — Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, Deborah Miller shall not experience
(1) any annual or lifetime limits on coverage; or
(2) higher costs due to a pre-existing condition as defined in Section 2705 of the Public Health Services Act.

(f) PRESERVATION OF ESSENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS — Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, Deborah Miller shall not experience the loss of coverage of any Essential Health Benefits as defined in Section 1302 of the Affordable Care Act or have to pay more in premiums or cost-sharing for coverage including all Essential Health Benefits.

(g) PRESERVATION OF MEDICAID. — Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, Deborah Miller of Texas shall not experience any reduction in eligibility or services or experience any increase in cost-sharing (including premiums and co-pays) related to current or future eligibility and enrollment in Medicaid.

SEC. 3. (b) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DEPT. OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES — It shall be the responsibility of the Secretary of U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services to oversee enforcement of Sec. ____, ensuring that affordable coverage is maintained by Deborah Miller, a resident of Texas.

(1) Under no circumstance may the Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services waive or refuse his responsibilities to enforce Sec. _____.

As a resident of blue New York, I’m confused about what to do other than donating (and I did donate!). I can certainly call my senators to demand they oppose this bill, but should I also be calling senators who are not mine? After all, their terrible law is going to hurt me and my family very directly, as some of us are Medicaid recipients. Or something else? Thoughts?

Don’t call other senators. Do fill out the ouramendments form — it may help your senators filibuster. Do tell your senators your story. Do ask what you can do to help. The indivisible page also has suggestions and scripts for people in blue states.